EXTREME heat resulted in 40,000 excess deaths in England between 1988 and 2025, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed yesterday as this summer is on track for the highest number of heat-related deaths on record.

Climate experts said the ONS figures, which do not include data from 2026, constitute a “national tragedy,” as campaigners warned that “this hot and dangerous summer will be one of the coolest of the rest of our lives.”

Excess deaths were historically linked to the coldest temperatures, but James Tucker at the ONS said these new results “show that the gap between heat and cold-related deaths has narrowed in recent years as the proportion of heat-related deaths has increased.”

ONS data for the most recent year show 2,805 heat-related deaths in England and Wales, more than the 2,244 cold-related deaths.

An estimated 2,877 people died in this year’s May and June heatwaves alone, the UK Health Security Agency found, which represents almost double the total number of extra deaths in the summer of 2025.

Hospitals in England also experienced their busiest period on record this summer, with nearly 2.5 million patients seeking A&E care in May, June and July.

Earlier this month, the Royal College of Nurses (RCN) warned that it members were collapsing on the job as they struggled with extreme heat that made their work “inhumane and impossible.”

London had the highest number of deaths attributed to the highest temperatures, the ONS said, with 25,000 more ambulance calls this year than last summer.

Imperial College London statistician Dr Clair Barnes said: “As this summer has made abundantly clear, the risk from extreme heat is a fast-growing problem that will only worsen without further action to reduce emissions and provide cooling.”

Bob Ward at the LSE’s Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change said: “Most of these cold and heat-related deaths are preventable. This is a shocking national scandal.”

Friends of the Earth head of science, policy and research Mike Childs demanded that the government “accelerate and increase spending on its Warm Homes programme, targeted in the areas that need it most.

“Far from giving the green light to more oil and gas extraction in the North Sea, the government should be making the companies getting rich amid mounting death and destruction pay for the measures we need to protect people from worsening climate extremes.”